Alfa Romeo SUV / Crossover in 2012

We’re hearing strong rumours that Alfa Romeo are planning a compact crossover/SUV to be made in the US, based on a Jeep platform and launching in 2012.

We had a flurry of expectation a few years ago that ever car maker on the planet from the prosaic to the stellar would be churning out an SUV. That got modified to SUV/CUV/Crossover/Thingy as the world fell in love with anything that gave the driving position of a van but with car comforts and where the traditional classification of SUV didn’t really fit.

So whether it’s Porsche, VW, Ford or Hyundai you have a car that fits the bill. Some escaped this headlong rush in to all things ‘Butch’ including Ferrari and Lamborghini (although Lamorghini did it in a very big way in the ’80s with the V12 LM002) – in fact all the Italians that matter. But that’s about to change.

Alfa Romeo are planning a Crossover/SUV. There, we’ve said it. It sounds sacrilegious, but it was probably always inevitable once Alfa sales started to slide and Fiat bought Chrysler. Cuts have to be made and rationalisations have to be implemented. And the thinking is that an Alfa Crossover to compete against the Qashqais, Kugas, Tiguans and X1s of this world could be a money spinner.

The plan is to use a Jeep platform to graft an Alfa body on, make it in the US and churn it out to a sceptical market by 2012 with a choice of 2.0 litre petrol or diesel engines.

As we said the other day, some rumours aren’t worth printing; they’ll never happen. This one looks as if it will.